The Power of Portals

by Flames173

Chapter 15

"So, now what?" Twilight asked.

"I think we find Celestia, that is our current quest." I said.

"You play too many video games." Luke said, destroying the door in the process. Splinters of magic wood flying everywhere.

"Yeah, I know, now, how are we going to find her?"

"Well, we could go find Daring Do." Jodi suggested. "That's her name right? It's hard to follow your conversations sometimes."

"That is a good idea, but she's probably out somewhere, on some crazy life risking adventure looking for some priceless artifact left by the Maretans or the Stalliomans." Twilight said with an exasperated sigh.

"Maretans? Stalliomans?" Luke asked.

"The pony versions of the Spartans and Romans." I explained. "At least, I think so. They were never in shows."

"Let's go with that."

"You know, actually, I feel like Celestia isn't actually anywhere near civilization." Jodi said, staring at the slowly dulling sun.

"Why's that?"

"Well, if you were some warlord and you stole the leader of the enemy, would you hide them in town?"

"No, I suppose that makes sense." I said, pondering what she was getting at. "Where would you say she is?"

"Far from civilization."

"Yeah, but that's the thing, all corners of Equestria have been explored, the only place no pony lives in anymore is the Everfree Forest." I said, realization hitting me, my face slowly turning to one of awe. "Jodi, you are a genius!" I said. I kissed her quickly then turned back to the others. "To the Everfree it is." I said.

***

Fluttershy was sitting in the corner of Joe's basement, twiddling her new thumbs, waiting for someone to return, or the portal to reopen. She pulled her dress down her legs to ensure no one was peeping at her, though, nobody was. Probably. She looked to her left, then right. She started sweating with fright, so she whistled to calm herself down. Not long after she began, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She didn't know what to do, so she snuggled closer into the corner, hoping that whoever it was would either not come in or miss her, and leave soon too. After the person got off the stairs, there were light footsteps as they crossed the tile floor at the bottom towards the workshop.

Well, this is it. You're going to be busted, then you're going to prison for trespassing, and you'll never see Equestria or your friends again. she thought silently to herself, scaring herself so much she elicited a small 'eep'. Then she heard the footsteps go a little more cautiously, slowly coming towards her. She saw a head poke through the door, it scared her so much that she nearly wet herself.

"Fluttershy? Where's Twilight and Luke?" Fred asked.

"Oh phew, it's just you." Fluttershy said. She jumped up and hugged him. "I thought it was someone else! I've never been so happy to see you before!"

Fred absentmindedly patted Fluttershy's back in the embrace. "So uhh, what did I miss?" he asked after a few seconds to recollect himself.

"Twilight and Luke got the machine to work and they went back to Equestria!" Fluttershy spat out the words like they were hot coals, burning her mouth.

"What? And they didn't bother telling me?"

"But, I think we can recreate the rig they made to charge the thing."

"Good, they'll probably need us."

Fluttershy gathered up the mirrors that the two super nerds shoddily hid. then she reassembled the mirror thing and waited a couple minutes.

"Is it working?" Fred asked when his patience ran out.

"Hang on, let me check. I don't think so." Fluttershy said. She went to the mirror closest the window. She readjusted it a bit until a faint beam of light shot form it and hit the next mirror. She fidgeted with a few other mirrors until the beam got to the solar panel on the portal box.

"So, now is it functional?" Fred asked.

"It should be. Can you press the button?" Fluttershy asked, holding a mirror. "I can't put this mirror down or the sun beam breaks."

"Ok." Fred walked over to the portal box and located the button. He pushed it and the portal appeared. "It worked! Quick, put the mirrors away!"

Fluttershy put the mirrors back where she found them and went up to Fred's side. The two went through the portal and into Equestria.

"And cue the portal shut." Fred said a few seconds after they passed through, and as if it followed his command, the portal quivered then shut.

"Nice timing. Bet you can't do it again." Fluttershy said.

"Bet you're right."

The two walked to Ponyville, laughing along the way. After a few minutes, the two went silent. When Fred got to Ponyville, he turned to say a quip to Fluttershy, but noticed she wasn't there. He looked back to see her standing on the hill just outside the town. He ran up to her to ask what she was doing. When he got to her, she was mumbling something under her breath.

"Fluttershy? Are you all right?" He asked, waving his hoof in front of her face. He did several other things to try and get her attention. He eventually gave up. Fred sat next to the completely zoned out pony when he got an idea. He slowly reached his hoof out and he poked her wing. Nothing happened. He started playing with her feathers, and Fluttershy did nothing in response. Fred saw a feather with a red line in it, so it plucked it to see it closer.

"EEP!" Fluttershy screamed, jumping into the air. She fluttered her wings, but quickly fell to the ground, as one wing needed serious preening now. "Don't touch bloodfeathers!" she shouted in Fred's face, her eyes momentarily red with rage.

"Sorry, but, you were mumbling something, and you zoned out. I wanted to get your attention back to the real world." Fred explained apologetically.

"Well, Twilight made a neural link with me. You just broke it." Fluttershy said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What did she say?"

"She told me they may have located princess Celestia. They're on the way to the Everfree."

"I missed so much." Fred mumbled to himself.

"Oh sorry, sometimes when Twilight establishes a neural link with me, I can see into her mind and it's hard to keep my mind and her mind separate. So, I guess I must have gotten her memories mixed up with mine. I'll explain everything I know you missed on our way back to my cottage."

"All right I guess."

Fluttershy and Fred walked around Ponyville and left for the edge of the Everfree. No ponies talked to them or stopped them on their path, in fact, they only saw one creepy old stallion tending a garden.

"OK, so, the others will be here any minute. It's a much shorter trip than you'd think." Fluttershy said as she went over to her kitchen and prepared some foods.